Woman Suing Elks For Keeping Her Out

Published: July 23, 1999 12:00 AM

A Wooster woman is accusing Wooster Lodge No. 1346 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of gender discrimination and her complaint will go before a jury in March if the complaint remains unresolved.

Debra Preising, 1565 Willoughby Drive, filed the suit in Wayne County Common Pleas Court in April, accusing the club of refusing her membership because she is a woman. Judge Robert J. Brown scheduled the March 30 trial date on Thursday.

Preising is asking the court to compel the club to admit her as a member, with the full and equal rights of all other members. She also is seeking monetary damages in excess of $25,000 for emotional distress and damage to her reputation.

But Preising said Thursday that the case "has nothing to do with money at all," that she just wants to be able to join the club whose service projects she and other women have worked as hard on as any of its male members.

Preising applied for membership in the lodge on Jan. 19 after many years of volunteer service with its auxiliary organization, the Emblem Club. She served as president of that group of more than 80 members in 1997-98.

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"I don't see why we should not be able to join and have the same privileges," she said, especially considering that other Elks lodges across the state and the country admit women into their groups.

She said she agreed to apply for membership in the lodge after an officer of the club told her women were needed to boost the membership and help with the group's community service projects.

But she said she knew she was facing discrimination when a different member later told her that "it was nothing personal against me, but he would rather see the lodge burn to the ground than see women become members."

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Preising asserts in her complaint that she and three other women who applied for membership in the club earlier this year were denied entrance because of their gender, even though they otherwise met the qualifications for membership.

When Preising later appeared with other candidates for membership before the club's investigation committee, members confirmed that she met qualifications for membership, her complaint says.

But when club members later voted on eight candidates for membership in March, all four women seeking entrance into the lodge were denied, the document explains.

The complaint alleges that the then Exalted Ruler of the lodge, Jon Peterson, voided the decision and set the matter for a second vote "because he knew that the denial of membership to Debra Preising and the other three women was motivated solely by their gender."

But a second vote in April again barred the four women from membership.

"The actions of the Wooster Elks Lodge in rejecting Debra Preising's candidacy for membership, not once but twice, was motivated by malice and bad faith," the complaint says.

Other evidence of the club's strict refusal to admit women, the complaint contends, is "the extraordinary number of members who voted" to keep her and the other women out of the lodge.

On the occasion of both votes, the complaint states, the number of voting members exceeded 80, when usually only about 20 members are present to decide such issues.

"The extraordinary four-fold increase in the number of voting members ... was the result of a concerted effort to deny membership to Debra Preising and the other women candidates," the complaint concludes.

As a club that accommodates public activities, the complaint alleges, the Elks Lodge is in violation of the Ohio Civil Rights Act when it discriminates based on gender. But the club has disputed its status as a place of public accommodation and claims it is not subject to state statute.

Susan Rusnak, co-counsel for the lodge, said Thursday that a number of factors determine if a club qualifies as a place of public accommodation, such as how large its roster is and how selective it is in its membership.

She declined "to discuss the merits of the case," but said such factors would be brought out as evidence if Preising's case is brought to trial.

Explaining that while no decision regarding settlement has been made yet, Rusnak said discussions are under way.

"We are attempting to resolve the case," she said. "There are negotiations that are going on right now."

But taking the case to trial would set a state precedent.

"Ohio has not seen a case like this," Rusnak said, explaining that no court decision exists that holds a private club to the state civil rights law. "This would be a test case."

But Preising's attorney, David Kovach, said that decisions in two cases against Elks lodges in Michigan in 1998 and Utah in 1993 determined that the clubs were unlawfully discriminating against women.

"That's one of the reasons why we think we're on pretty solid ground," Kovach said.

But as for what the law intends in Ohio, he added, "I guess that's what courts are for."